Russia

The Cossack Dance Ensemble "Stanitsa”

It has been founded in 1990 and by 1995 the group was well known in Russia. The ensemble’s repertoire is based on folk songs and dances of Kuban Cossacks. The group "Stanitsa” permanently participates to all regional festivals and folk events. The group preserves and promotes the traditional Cossack culture of the Kuban region. The Kuban region is situated by the Caucasus, and is marked by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The culture of Kuban Cossacks historically includes other cultures such as Ukrainian, Russian, and North Caucasian. They express it through their dance movements, costumes and music.

The group was founded as a dance ensemble, and then a vocal group was added with great success. Now the Cossack Dance Ensemble "Stanitsa” is one of the best groups of Krasnodar region.

The performances of the Russian Folk Group “Stanitsa” was presented at Katara Esplanade as a part of the ‘Cultural Diversity Festival’ activities, organized by the Cultural Village Foundation Katara in cooperation with the UNESCO office in Doha.“Stanitsa” innovatively performed a number of cultural performances that represented the lifestyle of the Kuban region.The performers greeted the audience with the military performance entitled: “March”, followed by “Kazachok”, which is the traditional dance from southern Russia. Besides, the performers continued to entertain the visitors with the artistic show, in which took part Cossacks. Other folkloric performances included: “Small Pillow”, “Naurskaia” performances originated from the North Caucasus, and “Pleskach” show that represented the Black Sea region.In addition the folkloric group represented the comedian performances: “The Kiev Guys” and “When Cossacks Cry”.Furthermore, the show continued with other folkloric performances entitled: “Breeze” and “Molodychika”, which is traditional Cossack performance usually performed in wedding ceremonies.The Russian folklore group “Stanitsa” was formed in 1990 on the base of the House of Culture and Sports of the Elizavetinskaia village of Krasnodar. “Stanitsa” represents the culture of the Southern Russia, specifically Kuban. The performers’ main aim is preservation, development and promotion of traditional culture through the performance entitled: “The National Cossack Performance”.In 1995, the team achieved the title of “People’s amateur group”. In 2000, “Stanitsa” was classified as the best amateur group in their region, which led the members of group to perform regularly in all the regional events. The culture of Kuban is considered to be the combination of the Ukrainian, Russian and North Caucasian cultures.“Stanitsa” has been involved also in various folk festivals not only in Russia, but also abroad.